Review: BEL STi Driver

Last updated: 2012

Note: This model has been discontinued.

The BEL (Beltronics) STi Driver, is a unique model designed for drivers of large commercial vehicles and those who drive in areas where radar detectors are banned. Both groups are at risk from radar detector detectors—primarily the Spectre (Stalcar) RDD—used by police to ferret out illicit detectors.

The BEL STi Driver is all business. Its robust magnesium case is matte black to keep it stealthy and to resist windshield reflections. The three front-mounted control buttons are red-backlit—an industry first—to make nighttime operation easy. Its Smart Plug adds an audio muting button with LEDs for status and alerts, letting the driver conceal the detector and operate it remotely. A small touch, but vital when eagle-eyed lawmen are looking for illicit detectors.

A high-intensity red text display is adjustable in four steps from all-dark to maximum brightness; it also auto-adjusts. Visual alerts depict the radar band—X, K or Ka—accompanied by a bargraph that shows signal strength, or proximity to the radar gun. With experience, a driver can use this to tell if the radar gun is an imminent threat or only a potential problem far up the road ahead.

There's an audio jack to link the BEL STi Driver with a powered external speaker, useful in overcoming high ambient noise levels.

The BEL STi Driver is plug-and-play but it also offers several user-selectable options. One is voice alerts. These make threat identification nearly idiot-proof and speed the process of getting acquainted. Those who prefer alert tones can opt out with a few seconds' worth of button-pressing.

Another unique feature is selectable band defeat to deactivate any radar band, particularly X band, and further heighten the Sti Driver's resistance to false alarms.

On the open road, the BEL Sti Driver has good resistance to false alarms, many of them caused by older Cobra radar detectors in nearby vehicles. It also has Tec mode (a.k.a. Spec mode), a handy feature that will tell the driver whether a Ka-band radar alert is police radar or another radar detector. Knowing the difference means not having to stand on the brakes in reaction to every alert.

The BEL STi Driver holds the world record for long-range radar detection—nearly 12 miles. That record was set on a flat desert road and range elsewhere is less. But with performance to burn, this translates into detection of radar coming from beyond a distant hill or curve, when conventional detectors will remain silent.

With its solid array of features and sparkling performance, the BEL STi Driver remains the tool of choice for commercial-truck drivers and those who drive where detector use is banned.